BOONE, Iowa — A body found in the Des Moines River on Friday evening is likely that of kidnapped 15-year-old girl who has been missing since she and another girl were abducted more than two weeks ago, state authorities said early Saturday morning.

Authorities say the body a fisherman found Friday night in the Des Moines River near Boone is Kathlynn Shepard's. An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday.

Gerard Meyers of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said Boone County dispatchers received a call from people fishing at 6:59 p.m. about a body in the river underneath the Kate Shelley High Bridge near Boone.

"We believe it to be Kathlynn Shepard," Meyers said at a news conference at the Boone Police Station just after midnight. He said the clothing was consistent with what Shepard was wearing when she was abducted, along with 12-year-old Dezi Hughes, while walking home from the school bus in Dayton in Webster County on May 20.

Hughes was found wearing zip ties — and authorities found similar zip ties on the body located Friday night.

"I don't really have the words to say. It kind of came as a shock to me," said Dayton Police Chief Nick Dunbar, who has followed up on leads daily since Shepard went missing.

"It's going to be a rough road for Dayton. It's going to take a long time to get back to somewhat of a resemblance of what it used to be. Obviously, it's never going to be the same, and we don't expect it to be the same."

Kathlynn Shepard, 15, was kidnapped along with a 12-year-old friend as they walked home from school in Iowa on May 20.(Photo: Iowa Department of Public Safety via AP)

The body found Friday was 15 to 20 miles downriver from where the Des Moines River runs east of Dayton, partially covered by logs and other debris. Searchers had focused on the river, but heavy rain the past two weeks impaired their efforts. The area under the Shelley bridge had not been searched, Meyers said.

Police would not comment on the cause of death or whether the person had been sexually assaulted. The investigation continues, Meyers said.

"In Webster County, in Dayton, we were robbed of some innocence in this whole thing. And we'll never be the same," said Webster County Sheriff James Stubbs. "The outcome is not what we were looking for, but it brings closure."

An intensive search went on for about a week. Last week, Dayton Police Chief Nick Dunbar said investigators were trying to pin down the "definitive path" that Klunder traveled after he abducted Shepard and Hughes.

Police said Klunder lured the girls into his vehicle and took them to a hog confinement building where he worked, tying the girls' hands with zip ties. Hughes broke free and ran through the woods to safety when Klunder took Shepard to another part of the property.

Investigators said Shepard's blood was found on the grounds of the hog facility and on Klunder's truck.

Hundreds of police officers and volunteers searched for Shepard, covering 220 square miles in three counties.

Klunder, 42, was released from prison in 2011 after serving nearly 20 years for the 1991 kidnappings of a 21-year-old woman he tried to assault and two 3-year-old girls who were found alive in a trash bin. He had recently been married and bought a house in Stratford.